Who we are

Etherton Education has run academic summer courses in British Boarding Schools for 15 years. The Directors are Peter and Anne Etherton. Both have been involved in teaching English to overseas students for over 40 years, and have strong links with Hong Kong and China; they both taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Peter Etherton is the author of over 100 textbooks, including Oxford English. He is also a former British Council ELT Specialist and IELTS Examiner. Anne Etherton has wide teaching and administration experience, and is a former Principal of an International Study Centre.

We founded Etherton Education in 2002 because we know how difficult it is for overseas students when they first come to Britain. We wanted to design Summer Courses which would really look after them well, and provide an excellent bridge to their new education in the UK.

Our offices in Somerset, England, are open all year, and we welcome visitors at any time, where a friendly team and a fresh cup of tea will be waiting for you!

Continuous Improvement

We now deliver the courses with over 50 professionally qualified staff, who bring great breadth of experience and ideas to the courses. We are also fortunate to employ excellent young British students each summer, who work closely as ‘Hosts’ to our International students, helping them to feel at home and integrate confidently into school life, academically and socially. We conduct continuous assessment of the value of each part of our courses and seek feedback from staff and students to make sure we are delivering the best course possible. We aim to give the best possible value for money from an intensive summer academic experience.

Course Content

Our courses include 30 hours a week of tuition (25 hours a week for the Junior Academic courses). All students study intensive English, along with 10 other academic subjects on the Junior and Pre-GCSE courses, and up to 5 other academic subjects on our other courses. There is a full programme of sports, social activities, clubs and cultural visits. The courses provide an intense experience which increases students’ academic performance and develops their character, especially their confidence.

Working with Agents

We work all year round, attending overseas events and arranging agent meetings. We work with agents worldwide, predominately in Asia, Russia and Europe. We attend a number of international events every year to maintain overseas relationships and build new partnerships. We have further been the proud sponsor for the BBSW (British Boarding Schools Workshop) for the last 4 years. This event gives us the opportunity to meet directly with quality agents selected by the organisers.

Working with British Boarding Schools

Etherton Education has partnership agreements with over 160 UK Boarding Schools. The partnerships help students who need to have a Tier 4 Student Visa. They may apply for one visa to include both the summer course and the next school, without having to return home. We work closely with our partner schools and the list is continually growing. In addition, we have held a number of seminars for boarding schools in association with The Taylor Partnership, who advise schools on any developments in Tier 4 regulations.